The sea robin debacle, or, not all junk-fish experiments succeed

This is a sea robin. At least, that's what Captain Rick called it last Friday. A friend who stopped by as I was getting reading to cook it said that, when she fished off Shelter Island as a kid, her dad referred to such things as "garbage fish."

Rick sells lots of perfectly normal fish (filets of tuna, flounder, etc.) at his stand at the 97th Street Greenmarket. But that kind of stuff costs real money, and is kinda boring, so I'm usually drawn to his little bin of whole fish. I've bought lots of excellent porgies from him, and the week before I had gone for the butterfish. This time the weirdest thing in the bin was the sea robin, so I bought it. For $5.

I asked Rick what to do with the thing. He said to cut off the tail and bake it. So I cut off the tail:

I then followed a recipe for monkfish tail in the no-longer-All-New Joy of Cooking (1997 edition), stuffing the thing with chopped garlic and basil and Maldon salt:

I roasted it at 450 degrees, initially just with oil and then with some Vinho Verde thrown in.

It was a bust, which is why I took no pictures of the finished product. It didn't look good. It didn't taste good. The kid, who will eat porgies all day, didn't like it. The wife didn't like it. I didn't like it. The mix of flavors was just wrong. Maybe I overcooked it. Or undercooked it. But I don't think that was the problem. Luckily, I had also made a nice salad and cooked up some couscous and Fresh Direct lamb sausage. But still, it was a bust.

I think the fish might taste fine in a thick, creamy sauce. A sea robin etouffee. Except that it's got lots of little bones which would make such treatment difficult. So this week it's back to porgies or butterfish. Or maybe even tuna.

Comments

[Dad]

I remember catching sea robins when we were out fishing for flounder (or most anything else.) As I remember it, we had to be careful since they had a poisonous spine that you had to avoid. I don't really remember eating one but was told that if you filleted them carefully they were delicious. I can't imagine your grandfather not trying them, however.

[Dad]

After looking Sea Robins up in Wikipedia, I think the poisonous spiny fish we caught in the Chesapeake were Blowfish - they puffed up like a balloon. But if you cut out a fillet it was supposed to be delicious.

[Justin Fox]

I too googled sea robins after that comment; I mean, it's not like we chewed on the spine, but I didn't remove it, either.

Wikipedia and other sources seem to think sea robin belongs in bouillabaisse, which sounds about right.

[Christine]

We used to throw back sea robins by the bucketfull, but no more now that the fishery has been decimated by the commercial boats. They are fine fish for frying, and you can filet them if you wish. I like them with just a dusting of flour, salt and pepper. I keep a jar with mostly vinegar and some olive oil and jalapeno, habaneros and other super hot peppers. Splash a bit in a hot hot pan and then toss in the sea robins. They're terrific and crunchy. Works well with pieces of blue fish that are larger, too, to cut the oily flavor.

[Terry]

I see that Capt. Rick sometimes has the sea robin fillets, but they have been going for $8 a pound... I'm a fly fisherman who goes to Breezy Point a lot for bass, bonito, etc. and usually throw back the sea robins I catch. Last week I kept 4 and took home to cook. I filleted them, still missed a few small bones, no matter how careful. I floured and sauteed, with brown butter/caper sauce. Okay, but not great. The texture was too "solid", very similar to monkfish (nee goosefish). If I were to cook them again, I would definitely use a stew or soup vehicle, as the flesh would hold up to heat and be as good as monkfish. I wonder how they would work as sashimi? Like hirame?

[Ben]

I google image searched for sea robin, and this page came up. I did this because I was reading an article about the fish. In the article, it was stated that sea robins' tails taste just like lobster. This jives with the suggestion of a thick, creamy sauce. So, maybe it should be treated like lobster.